12/23/04 Xmas Without Violence

Before the greatest Christian holiday Animal Friends reminds the public that a lot of holiday feasts will content millions of killed animals for the season of love and peace

In the spirit of commercialized Christmas, Croatian citizens are buying symbols of peace, love and joy unaware that millions of tortured turkeys, pigs, cows, and other animals are being sacrificed for the Christmas feast.

This holiest day of the year should be filled with love, peace and compassion instead of being the bloodiest day of the year. There's nothing lovely or compassionate about factory farms or slaughterhouses, where over 50 billions of innocent animals annually spend their pathetic lives full of agony which violently end in blood. There's nothing good, merciful or joyful about eating animals. Every animal can feel pain and suffering, every animal has its own meaning of life.

To make clear that pieces of dead and agonized animals are not meant to be on our plates, on Thursday 23 December 2004 in front of the market Dolac in Zagreb Animal Friends will hand out cruelty-free food to people going in and coming out of the butcheries thus sending an appeal to them to respect everyone's life by having a violent-free Christmas. Leaflets with vegetarian recipes will be handed out and there will also be appropriate banners.

What message are we sending to our children by talking about love, compassion and tolerance towards others and at the same time enjoying a blood soaked piece of a once living creature? Animals like to live and have a life, too, instead of being slaughtered for someone's feast accompanied with prayers for peace and blessings.

By eating animals we are supporting the world hunger. While we are destroying lots of food by breeding of animals, each minute children are dying from hunger. With being compassionate to animals, we are also being compassionate to people.

Let's stop for a moment and ponder a bit - if Jesus was walking on earth right know, how would he feel in the sea of blood constantly being shed "in his honor?" Would he approve this slaughterhouse? His words with which he encourages us to treat others as we want to be treated ourselves are so quiet and deafened by the horrible cries of the slaughtered and killed, so distant from reality and the message of the one whom we should celebrate these days. We appeal to all people to live the real sense of holidays - spreading of true love and compassion outside their stomachs and beyond the walls of their homes and not by supporting the most brutal act of a human towards an animal - torture and slaughter.

Reactions, Demands and Reports

Facebook preporuke

Animal Friends is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 2001 with the aim to promote animal protection and animal rights as well as veganism, as ethical, ecological and healthy lifestyle.
Animal Friends Croatia is a member organization of EVU,
Eurogroup for Animals, ECEAE, FFA, IAFC and OIPA.